I learned a few things living on both coasts. First, LA needs more streetside pickle vendors; second New York could use better tacos; and third, no matter where you find yourself, cauliflower still sucks.

I've been told I resemble Mark Ruffalo and gesticulate when talking like a cracked-out Vince Vaughan, but that's a load of crap. Think Andy Dick meets Yoda and you're on a better track, though still nowhere near my look.

More seriously, it's a few years now back home in Los Angeles after nine in Brooklyn. I never really paid heed in the past when others told me that LA can be difficult socially, that is until I moved back. Yet things flow now with a circle of friends and a special someone would complete the story. Let's meet cute and decide between pho or ramen.

Living the dream compliance officer dream, but not letting the dream run me. I like to play when not at work, either at soccer in the park or at chef in the kitchen. Biking around town too, playing on two wheels instead of four. Sometimes I even play at writing, until my self-esteem takes a nosedive.

Travel's fun too, but I wouldn't call it play exactly, even though playing in Buenos Aires sounds like a good time. And Whistler this Winter should be fun.

Chess and snowboarding.

Picking the right food for the occasion, whether at a restaurant or home. I order well.

Thinking of new ways to talk about food. And speaking of which, I never lose at picking who's about to get booted from Top Chef.

Installing level shelves.

Choosing words wisely, or rather obsessing over language. For instance, I question whether it should read 'Agnostic' for my religion on the right, or remain the laughing Jew.

I like to read at lunchtime. My favorite author is Thomas Pynchon, Crying of Lot 49 being the best though I've read them all. I love fluff like Los Angeles Magazine and silly sci-fi. Ancient history thrills me too - the Greeks, the Ramayana, Rome. I think about how everything went into the crapper after Rome fell and I wonder if something similar could happen today. I recently completed a months long David Foster Wallace kick, and his suicide still saddens me.

Some film favorites: The Graduate, Annie Hall, Apocalypse Now, The Conversation (anything 70s really), Pulp Fiction, and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. North by Northwest. The Lord of the Rings. Gladiator. Aliens. I'm sure there are some others like The Big Lebowski, but I abide, and mustn't forget The Royal Tenenbaums. I'm sick of superhero movies however; was a Spiderman origin reboot really necessary only 10 years after the last one? And The Avengers was kinda dumb.

My bands backwards in time: LCD Soundsystem, The Black Keys, anything Jack White, Wilco, anything Josh Homme, Radiohead, Pavement, Sonic Youth, Soundgarden. (Then the 80s were kind of a wasteland, right? Hair metal - c'mon now. Outside of The Clash and The Talking Heads and the rest of the punkers there was of course U2, The Cure and The Smiths. But do I love them? U2 maybe, but Morrissey bugs. And Bananarama. Springsteen was always too Jersey and never did it for me, though I do respect him.) Neil Young, Television, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Patti Smith, Led Zeppelin, The Grateful Dead, Bob Dylan, The Velvet Underground, The Rolling Stones and the Beatles always and forever.

On TV, it's mostly sitcoms and sports. And that douchebag doing Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives on the Food Channel. And Game of Thrones. The Walking Dead.

Korean barbecue from the source in K-Town. Fine kebabs. Quality sushi. Meatless Mondays. Handmade pasta. Artichokes. Grand Central Market for lunch. Finding the best ramen in LA. Brussels sprouts with toasted pecans and rehydrated figs.

20% off coupons from Bed, Bath & Beyond - all six of them.

The Lakers, a pretty smile and dinner.

Shutting 'em down on the soccer pitch, then beer and laughs (or piss & vinegar if we lose). Decompressing after a week of work. Wondering if punctuation goes inside or outside a parenthesis bracket.

I kind of like Coldplay (though I'm tempted to delete this very sentence). Also Lifetime movies about teenagers in trouble or standup moms with secret seamy lives.

You sometimes wake up howling and sweaty. You like bikes or walking if possible, instead of the car. You see past the dreaded Coldplay thing. You find me dreamy. A proper picture being difficult on this page, I typically opt for silly.